"its soooo pretty here!" ~ Val and Jenny

So, in the past few days I have had my last real days at school before the summer and my two best friends have arrived allllllll the way from America!  It is very exciting and means that summer has truly begun!  This is also evident in my clothes... one year at glass school has done this to my pair of jeans:

 When I arrived they had a tiny hole in one knee... I guess the combo of extreme heat, lots of nails sticking out and my general super hard wear and tear... they are done for good.

It was nice, towards they end they really provided some nice ventilation but still protected me from the heat!  Sadly, they are now in the trash can...

But, Val and Jenny have arrived! I have known them since high school and we now live very far apart and can only visit each a couple times a year... THIS IS ONE OF THEM!!!  I am lucky to have such great friends to come all this way :)

So far we have...

Swam in the lake here in Orrefors on Sunday, and had a nice coffee picnic, ate a huge kabob, visited Pukeborg glass.

Monday we played with glass at school, went to the hotel here for Thai food and then visited Kalmar: went shopping, walked around the castle, at ice cream and bought strawberries.

 Went on Örland where we hunted for the Skarsgård summer home and hot vampires, looked at windmills, Viking burials and this Karlevi Stone which has a poem to a Viking king on it from the 10th century.

 Ate MAX BURGERS (which they also thought were AMAZING) in Kalmar!

 Then on Tuesday it was glass and other Småland activities!  

Went to the factory in Åfors and sang Led Zepplin to these plates:

 Transjöhytta (my favorite private hot shop)

 Where Jenny and Val were enthralled in the masters working with the assistants.  We even got invited to a weekly get together there on Tuesdays to drink beer and hang out with glass blowers! We didn't go, it got to be too late, which we didn't realize because it was still broad daylight at 9 o'clock... but I will go next year!

 Went to the Kosta factory where we watched them making wine glasses as well as some Masters working with a designer on some new creation (one of the blowers looked like Christian Bale!).

 THEN THE MOOSE PARK!!!! We walked around this huge enclosed area and got to see moose up close and personal! I had been told to bring some apples to try to coax them to the fence and I was able to feed them from my hand!!! It was WOOOOOOOOONDERFUL!

 Here is a baby with Jenny and Val, he was super cute and ate apples and played with sticks!

 And had long adorable eyelashes!

 Then to the Kosta Art Hotel's Spa and Relax area!

 Where we swam with glass and lived the life of luxury!

 Then the signature drink at the Kosta Glass Bar... it is blue and has raspberries = delightful!

Then we returned home exhausted and very happy!  Today we have a fika at school to say goodbye and then to Gåtebo (the summer house) to visit Eva and Anders.  Great week so far!!!